Who says the past must be prefect ? Or the past benifactors must be without stain ? We should recognize that Bancroft, like so many others, was a real man, with real virtue and real flaws -- as a lesson that no one is perfect, but many have good qualities.
Reading the Wikipedia article on Bancroft, it seems his appropriation of his research assistants work was his error. Compared to Leland Stanford's crimes at around the same time, Stanford University should have a greater need to rename the institution.
Damnatio memoriae feels good, but tends to distract from more practical rectifications of wrongs, or the tragic recognition that most wrongs cannot be truly rectified. I'll make an exception for Confederate treason, especially since the Civil War is still being fought.
this is classic uc berkeley -- spinning its wheels on these silly exercises while the world is on the brink of war, us democracy is at risk and climate change threatens the planet. but it does make sense-- the universities sealed themselves in self referential bubbles years ago and have made themselves irrelevant (except for the biz school which is on an entirely different track focusing on "disruption and innovation") so what to do but empty virtue signaling.
Ah so Keynesian. Really. When Keynes applied fo an Eton scholarship there was a written test. One of the options was “amplify on the theme “Westward ever westward the tide of empire holds its course”. I would have written on Sumeria, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome, Aachen, ..., Spain, England then the USA to get on their nerves. I would not have won a scholarship.
On a somewhat related note. I never stepped foot on the uc Berkeley campus my only exposure to it was the Frederick wiseman documentary. To people who are associated with uc Berkeley what did people think about wiseman’s depiction?
Reminds somewhat, of the renaming of St. Petersburg and Volograd. I always wonder at the persistence of culture. Wild men come to power and think they can run roughshod over ancient cultures and remake the world in their image.
St Petersburg was re-named and then re-re-named. Maybe one should expect Bancroft Library to regain its name some 75 years from now. All in all, as noted in several others comments, a momentous exercise in navel-gazing on the part of an academic body that apparently does not have more serious occupations to attend.
Reminds me of a joke in Reader's Digest, remembered from high school days, which went:
USSR Government official: Where were you born?
Citizen: Saint Petersburg.
U: Where were you educated?
C: Petrograd.
U: Where do you live now?
C: Leningrad.
U: Where do you wish to live?
C: Saint Petersburg
That was around 1958, and I thought it amusing at the time. I now hope the Citizen was still living and enjoying life on the 51st anniversary of Kristallnacht in November 1989.
Who says the past must be prefect ? Or the past benifactors must be without stain ? We should recognize that Bancroft, like so many others, was a real man, with real virtue and real flaws -- as a lesson that no one is perfect, but many have good qualities.
Reading the Wikipedia article on Bancroft, it seems his appropriation of his research assistants work was his error. Compared to Leland Stanford's crimes at around the same time, Stanford University should have a greater need to rename the institution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Howe_Bancroft
Damnatio memoriae feels good, but tends to distract from more practical rectifications of wrongs, or the tragic recognition that most wrongs cannot be truly rectified. I'll make an exception for Confederate treason, especially since the Civil War is still being fought.
this is classic uc berkeley -- spinning its wheels on these silly exercises while the world is on the brink of war, us democracy is at risk and climate change threatens the planet. but it does make sense-- the universities sealed themselves in self referential bubbles years ago and have made themselves irrelevant (except for the biz school which is on an entirely different track focusing on "disruption and innovation") so what to do but empty virtue signaling.
Ah so Keynesian. Really. When Keynes applied fo an Eton scholarship there was a written test. One of the options was “amplify on the theme “Westward ever westward the tide of empire holds its course”. I would have written on Sumeria, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome, Aachen, ..., Spain, England then the USA to get on their nerves. I would not have won a scholarship.
Iowa State went through a similar "rename or not rename" on Catt Hall. Eventually deciding to keep the name: https://iowastatedaily.com/285015/news/catt-hall-will-keep-name/
I liked that ISU used a committee format with extensive public comments.
Interesting...
I know nothing about Bancroft, but whom does the serve and will it harm more than it achieves?
On a somewhat related note. I never stepped foot on the uc Berkeley campus my only exposure to it was the Frederick wiseman documentary. To people who are associated with uc Berkeley what did people think about wiseman’s depiction?
Reminds somewhat, of the renaming of St. Petersburg and Volograd. I always wonder at the persistence of culture. Wild men come to power and think they can run roughshod over ancient cultures and remake the world in their image.
St Petersburg was re-named and then re-re-named. Maybe one should expect Bancroft Library to regain its name some 75 years from now. All in all, as noted in several others comments, a momentous exercise in navel-gazing on the part of an academic body that apparently does not have more serious occupations to attend.
Reminds me of a joke in Reader's Digest, remembered from high school days, which went:
USSR Government official: Where were you born?
Citizen: Saint Petersburg.
U: Where were you educated?
C: Petrograd.
U: Where do you live now?
C: Leningrad.
U: Where do you wish to live?
C: Saint Petersburg
That was around 1958, and I thought it amusing at the time. I now hope the Citizen was still living and enjoying life on the 51st anniversary of Kristallnacht in November 1989.